Though sales of DVD and Blu-Rays have been overtaken by digital alternatives, there is still a preference for ownership over rental. £900 million a year is also still hugely significant for sales of disc media. In addition, the ERA figures provide breakdowns of sales of music and video games in the UK over the past year, which may interest fellow researchers in this group.

Disc-based media, in relation to films, also make up a large portion of home media retail sales around the world:

This information is all important context that will be drawn upon for two edited collections I am currently overseeing with Andy Willis (Salford). They are contracted with Palgrave, and are titled: Cult Media: Re-packaged, Re-released and Restored, and Watching Films at Home: Formats, Challenges and Practices in Distributing Domestic Media.

Some more information about the volumes, and the home media symposium that kick-started them, can be found here: